Field
The disclosure relates to a system and method for detecting and controlling contraband devices in a controlled environment.
Background
It is common practice in a corrections environment to record and/or monitor inmates' conversations. Such recording and monitoring takes place in the very controlled atmosphere of permitted inmate communications with individuals outside of the facilities housing prisoners or inmates. Normally prisoners are limited to a small number of individuals that they are permitted to call. These may include family members, their lawyers, and friends and may specifically exclude others, for example judges, jury members, witnesses, former co-conspirators and other like individuals to whom calls from a particular inmate may be of a harassing or other undesired nature. There may be a time of day, a length of call, three-way call or other restrictions on calls, all of which must be controlled by way of various instrumentalities that may include computer controlled equipment at the facility and/or at remote locations in addition to human monitoring and/or control. In almost all instances, such communications must be recorded; yet even in those instances, there are conditions that may impact on the desire, ability, or legal right to record such conversations. For example, it is inappropriate to record or monitor conversations between an inmate and his/her attorney, and thus, measures must be taken to insure that, where calls are made from an inmate to his/her attorney, no recording is made or monitoring is allowed.
While it is considered well-known that the recording of inmate communications is advantageous to governmental agencies and appropriate authorities in that information regarding the security of facilities and general continuing or past criminal activity may be found in such recordings, advances in the communications technology have opened avenues for inmates to circumvent such monitoring and/or recording advantages. Maintaining the ability to ensure control and/or monitoring of communications from or to a controlled facility is, therefore, an important aspect to previously implemented telecommunications systems. With the advances in cellular communications technology, maintaining security is hindered by such issues as the clandestine delivery of prohibited equipment into a monitored facility. Due to the small size of certain of the more recently-developed devices, such may avoid detection by more conventional search techniques including, but not limited to, walk through and manual metal detectors and even physical “pat-down” searches.
Conventionally, some correctional facilities have prevented the use of contraband cellular devices through the use of jamming devices or managed access devices (e.g., Stingray surveillance device manufactured by Harris Corporation) which emit a blanketing signal(s) around a correctional facility to prevent the use of any unauthorized cellular devices. However, these technologies are highly discouraged in most jurisdictions as they can interfere with public use of cellular phones when visiting or merely passing by the correctional facility. Despite the disadvantages of these jamming and monitoring technologies, they are occasionally used for a limited amount of time during emergency situations such as a riot.
While various aspects and alternative features are known in the field of communication monitoring, no one design has emerged that generally addresses the concerns of the prison industry, as discussed herein.
The present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. Additionally, the left most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.